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Art has no point. Paintings are really worthless. The ‘value’ of a painting is assigned by some person who has enough clout in the art world so that others will listen and obey. If I create something magnificent – a little visual glimpse of heaven – no one would care. There would be no monetary value to it. The right people who have enough power (based solely in their position in life) did not give their blessing on it. If someone else, however, that has the backing of these same people creates a piece of garbage, it is priceless because enough of the right people have fallen over backwards for it.

Also, there is no practical application for art. I suppose we could break down a painting and burn the wood of the frame. But what about music? We could chop up the instruments, I suppose. As for the actual incarnation of the music, the melody and harmony, there is no practical purpose for it. It is mindless noise, droning on and on and on.

You cannot give a compelling argument against this simple fact: art is stupid.

Art could vanish from the world and life would continue. Art does not keep buildings erect. In fact, some sculptures defy basic engineering tenets and could collapse under any sort of external weight or pressure.

Art does not keep people alive. It does not plant seeds or harvest grain or raise livestock.

Art does not bring healing to the infirm. Doctors and medicine accomplish that as much as they are able.

Art didn’t create the rules in which a society operates. Art did not dictate simple universal rules like respect for human life.

Art is stupid.

We have not been told anything else our entire lives. You may think you are enlightened or educated, so much so that you believe art has some place in our lives. But you are wrong. You have been severely misled. Look around you. No one wants your art. No one cares if you sculpt with precision or your voice is liquid gold.

It comes down to this: what is it worth? What is your creation worth? How much can I sell it for? How can it help me buy other things? How does it add to our gross domestic product?

Your art is worthless. And so is the time you spent creating it. And so are you.

In this Western world, if you do not produce something of ‘value’, you are worthless. Your life has no point, like the art you think you are creating. People may applaud the immediate unveiling of your latest masterpiece, but at some point everyone is thinking: ‘This has no practical use’. And so you have wasted that precious commodity that you cannot refund, transfer or accrue: time. No man’s insatiable greed or ambition can retrieve one spent second of precious time.

Art is stupid.

But how I love it.

It may not heal the body, but it can heal the soul. The wounds it can bind are unseen by others, but felt deeply by the individual.

Art does not provide food or shelter, but it can make both enjoyable.

Society can live on without art, based on rules enforced by an authoritative government. Art, however, communicates the beauty of life and the need to respect it.

And though this society prefers efficiency over aesthetics and position over truth, art will be the quiet corner that never leaves. It may have no practical purpose to those in a hurry to breathe their last breath, but for the wise it will be an ever present opportunity to stop and observe life. To partake in making observations about life and beauty. To allow others to communicate their observations about love and eternity.

So to all the ambitious and greedy people who run a race to the grave….you have my pity.

To anyone who made it this far in the reading, take warning: art is stupid, and you’ll be stupid for wasting your time on it. But to do anything else would be true stupidity.